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James Melis (Jim) is a former top CFO for many
companies in New York City. His
background is in finance with 20 years’ experience in four of the most
difficult and heavily regulated industries: Banking, Health Services,
Hospitality and Education. As a
consultant, his specialty is helping companies deal with change, understand
fearless financing, and maintaining a value-driven work environment. Jim has
been a member of the National Association of College University Business
Officers for 6 years. The association's
mission is to advance the economic viability and business practices of higher
education institutions in fulfillment of their academic missions. In addition,
he is also the founder of the not for profit charity (501c3) Making A
Difference One Laugh At A TimeAccess the live (10-11 AM Pacific) or archived episode:

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, their radio program, blog, and more at: http://brummet.ca * Support the Brummets by telling your friends, clicking those social networking buttons, or visiting the Brummet's Store - and help raise funds for charity as well!

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

I was thrilled to learn of Trusted Nutrients, www.trustednutrients.com, back in
late September when Miguel Perez (Certified Sports Nutritionist and Head of
Customer Service) connected with me re: taking on a review project for some of
their products. I agreed to review Women's
Once A Day Essential, Garcinia Cabrogia and Raspberry Ketones.

Trusted Nutrients has an extensive online catalog that is
very easy to use and time warps while you get lost browsing all the information
they have listed there. The are a fairly new company that is looking to become
known for being ethically and sustainably run with a tremendous focus on
customer service and strong networking relationships. The company is very
serious about only manufacturing and distributing the best supplements in the
world; according to Miguel “Our lab is
registered with the FDA and adheres to the strictest GMP standards”. Their
products are all natural, their capsules are made of vegetable cellulose, and
they don’t use any fillers or binders or artificial ingredients.

Customer orders are shipped via next-day service so in most
cases they arrive in a very short amount of time. By October 4th, just 7 days after
communicating with Miguel via email I received a phone call from Oscar (a
nutrition specialist) who just wanted to
let me know the package was sent out and to invite me to connect with him again
at any time if I have questions about nutrition, want to host a give-away on
the blog or review another product. Miguel followed up on Monday Oct 7th
with an email stating basically the same thing. I have to say that the
follow-through with this company is impressive. The package arrived Oct 7th,
delivered to my doorstep. (Nice!)

Each of the products I received came in 180 capsule sizes in
a recyclable plastic container that had a safety seal made of a minimal amount
of recyclable plastic. The first bottle I opened was the Women's Once A Day Essential (retails $29.95 US) and noticed right away a couple of very interesting aspects.
After I compared to two different brands’ bottles I saved from previous months
(I often reuse these bottles for garden seeds), I found that this new product
has way more nutrients per capsule. In addition Trusted
Nutrients included extra ingredients
from probiotics to a vegetable blend (kale, spinach, dandelion and beet) and a
blend of nutrients specifically for women’s needs (dong quai, red clover and
spirulina). You only need to take one of these per day – as opposed to other
brands that want you to take 3 of their pills. The next thing I looked at was
the size of the capsule – I have difficulty swallowing pills so my fear was
that it would be humongous like some brands are, however it is only ½ inch or so
in length. When I looked at the
packaging – I realized this was real cotton batting and that can be pulled
apart and added to the compost bin. I was also impressed by the fact that these
bottles are not half empty, they are filled about ¾ full or more and the
batting was there only to protect the capsules as opposed to filling up space.
So that means there are less plastic bottles consumed in the long haul, because
there is more product per bottle.

I’ve heard a lot about Garcinia Cambogia (retails for $29.95 US) which was highlighted
some time ago on Dr. Oz show and he amplified name recognition for this
product. Dr. Oz is known for being trust worthy, for really researching and
trying out products or foods prior to recommending them to his audience. So I
was already quite curious about this natural supplement and was very excited to
try it. I’ve only been taking this product for a little over two weeks so I’m
not sure how long it takes to see real results. I haven’t seen much just yet,
just a couple pounds less so far. These capsules are a little larger than the
daily vitamins and you are supposed to take one capsule twice a day about 30
min prior to meals. I have a hard time with that – remembering to take the pill
before a meal. I seem to do OK with breakfast, but then get forgetful after
that. I do the best I can, and more often than not get the 2 pills in. So
perhaps my lack of big results is simply my own fault for not remembering on
some days to take the second pill. According to Miguel, "It is quite essential to take it before seeing as it prevents the enzyme
that produces fat in your body, so prior to eating is ideal seeing as
the pill would take some time to take effect before metabolizing the
food you eat."

I was told that I can take
the Raspberry Ketones (antioxidant
weight loss supplement, retails for $29.95 US) along with the garcinia without any worries about
combining the two, and in fact they stated that taking both should provide
“optimum results”. I just started to do this the last few days though – I’m
sensitive to things so I figured it would be safer to introduce one nutrient at
a time. I started with the daily vitamin for a few days, added the garcinia
cambogia for about 2 weeks and now, I’m adding in the raspberry keytones.

I’m in my mid 40’s and in
peri-menopause, on top of this I had put on about 30 lbs. over a 3-year period
after the suicide of my mother and stepfather (who were chronically ill for
more than 20 years prior to their passing) that I am having trouble dropping. I
seem to drop a couple pounds, up to 5 lbs., and then gain them right back again
despite being physically active. I’m not sure if it is my age, or what – and
because I’d been thin most of my adult life I find this journey really
frustrating. I am hoping that these nutrients will help. It is my understanding
that if we are not getting the right nutrients from our food then we end up
eating more, and the body stores more fat; even though the stomach is full –
the body is starving. Similarly the body stores water if we are not drinking enough.
Also sleep plays a role in weight gain. So I’ve been working on all of these
things at the same time, and hopefully these will help me achieve the results I
am looking for.

I have to say that I
highly recommend this company – and through my experience here with this review
project, I have become a loyal advocate for their products and services.

*The
company can also be found on FaceBook: facebook.com/trustednutrients and Twitter: @trustednutrient , where they offer amazing promotions, tips and giveaways.

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, their radio program, blog, and more at: http://brummet.ca * Support the Brummets by telling your friends, clicking those social networking buttons, or visiting the Brummet's Store - and help raise funds for charity as well!

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

* Airs
live @ 10-11 AM (Pacifc) - Chat room open for live listeners - all episodes are archived indefinitely
within moments after they air live, and are available for you to listen
to later on at any time of day.Sign
up via itunes for the Conscious Discussions Radio show: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id262138144

World of Writing segment series airs every 2-3 weeks or so covering different aspects of this field - we often have guests come in including: proofreaders, reviewers, editors, publishers, publicists, agents, authors and more. Today though, I'll be sharing information from our book Purple Snowflake Marketing:

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, their radio program, blog, and more at: http://brummet.ca * Support the Brummets by telling your friends, clicking those social networking buttons, or visiting the Brummet's Store - and help raise funds for charity as well!

Monday, October 28, 2013

Occasionally
I like to share some of my published poetry here on this blog. I have
in fact another book of poetry coming out this winter, however these 2
poems were excerpted from my first book - Towards Understanding, a collection of 125 of the best poems I'd written between the ages of 16 - 25 or so. *I have a new book coming out this winter with poetry written from 25-42 years of age.

*Author's Note: Shame and confusion,
emotional numbness – these are feelings a victim of sexual abuse will go
through until they come to terms with what happened to them, and learn to
forgive themselves for being human, for being the “one” that was chosen for the
unwanted attention.

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, their radio program, blog, and more at: http://brummet.ca * Support the Brummets by telling your friends, clicking those social networking buttons, or visiting the Brummet's Store - and help raise funds for charity as well!

Sunday, October 27, 2013

*
Looking for that perfect gift for the holiday season? Why not show your
support for this blog and our radio show by visiting our store page on our site where we have 5 books to choose from.

-- Brummet's In The Media --

La Reserva Forest Foundation has a wonderful radio show where they celebrate all things Caribbean, but also have special segments called: Climate Change - We Can Solve It. Their next episode for this series will be today - it typically runs for 3 hours, 9AM - 12 noon Pacific and they've invited me to be a guest for one hour today from 10 AM - 11 AM Pacific. I love the motto they have: "Let's Get Planting" and the organization will also be featured on our radio show in the near future, which I'm really excited about. So join me today Sunday, October 27th from 10 AM - 11 AM Pacific time for an inspiring discussion about planting trees, purchasing live xmas trees this season and being wary of unsustainable harvested trees. We'll also look at some other green holiday tips, and much more.

I am part
of a unique project that I know you will benefit from. What's more is
that the cost of involvement in this life changing project is FREE. So,
it's worth reading on...

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Not only will you receive an eBook but you will also
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The course starts in January 2014 and is one that you can progress through at your own leisure.

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, their radio program, blog, and more at: http://brummet.ca * Support the Brummets by telling your friends, clicking those social networking buttons, or visiting the Brummet's Store - and help raise funds for charity as well!

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Canadian
residents only: leave a comment here on our blog and enter to win: 1 full-size tube of a Zax's Facial Redness Cream.

Zax's Original
Creams
connected with me back on September 12th regarding reviewing this
Canadian company’s natural skincare products. Their products help customers
find natural relief from dark circles under the eyes, facial redness, dark
spots, heal pain, and more. By September 17th we had confirmed which
products I was to review, they were shipped out later that week and I received
them by October 2nd .

This company had one
of the fastest shipping I’ve seen; the products arrived in a cardboard shipping
box with recyclable packaging – however I didn’t notice until a tube was empty
that the tube itself is not recyclable, though the plastic cap can be recycled
with other plastics. As you can
probably tell, I am passionate about eco-friendly products, and found it
comforting that because I live in Canada and the product is made in Canada,
there is little shipping involved.

I received Zax’s Original Heelspur Cream (retail
$18.99 Canadian), Facial Redness Cream
(retail $18.99 Canadian), and Darkspot
Cream (retails for $29.99 Canadian). The product directions suggested that
it could take 2-4 weeks before seeing results. I used the Darkspot and Facial Redness
products from Oct 4th to 25th (only 21 days) and did indeed notice
small changes. The dark spots on the side of my cheekbones were fairly light,
but are now almost undetectable… the dark spot on my left forearm is also
nearly disappeared, whereas the dark spot on my right forearm has only
lightened. I suspect that by the time the tube is empty these spots will be
nearly invisible. The redness cream definitely reduced the facial redness I
have, but not by leaps and bounds… it has, though, been reduced if only to my
own eyes. I am hoping that extended application will eventually reduce the
redness to more of a blush or “rosy cheeks” like I used to have.

Heel Spur: (35g tube) My heels in particular have been
giving me aching pain and sharp needle pain for a few years now. I’ve been
keeping that at bay most of the time by being careful of my posture (both
sitting and standing) elevating my feet at night, and wearing properly
cushioned insoles in most of my footwear. Still if I’ve been on my feet a lot
or have been working in the yard, gardening, or hiking (shoveling, pushing a wheelbarrow,
walking up slopes, and squatting) it seems to awaken or aggravate the heal
pain. So because of the physical activities this time of year my feet are again
giving me troubles – the day the Heel
Spur Cream arrived I was able to try it out while watching a movie that
night. I used about 1 ½ tsp. of the thick white cream on the entire foot and
ankle area and then covered with socks to avoid wiping any unabsorbed cream on
the couch. I only did one application that night, although the directions state
that up to 3 applications a day is recommended, but to avoid rubbing eyes after
applying with your hands or rubbing into wounds of any kind. I experienced a
comforting, slightly warm sensation and noticed a slight menthol / celery
scent. This product is made from natural ingredients such as: devils claw,
arnica, ginger, shea butter, alcohol and menthol which offer anti-inflammatory,
anti-oxidant, soothing, moisturizing and cooling benefits to help relieve the
pain and heal cracked, dry feet. Heel
Spur also has a long, 2-year expiration date. I would love to see a larger
tube as I had used 2/3 of my tube up within 5 days and ran out within 10 days.

Facial
Redness Cream: (28g) I’d always been prone to blushing easily and
frequently, reddening in cold weather and wind. As a young teen on my own, I
did a lot of outdoor labor jobs to make ends meet, and this meant a lot of
outdoor weather and sun exposure. As a young adult through to my mid 30’s I
enjoyed winter activities from snowshoeing to cross country skiing – also
exposing my skin to more harsh weather. As such I noticed that I started to get
little spidery red veins appearing on my face that later developed into a
patch-like network of veins over my nose and cheekbones under the eyes. Since
then I’ve protected my face from weather extremes with additional clothing and
protective creams, and day creams as well. Upon speaking to a doctor, I was
told that this condition was called rosacea – and though I did not have
thickened raised skin, bumps or large red vein explosions under the skin, I did
have a mild form of this condition. The doctor did say there wasn’t much she
could offer in regards to getting rid of the condition, but I discovered a
homeopathic product called Prosacea
that I’d been using at night and did see some minor results. The problem for me
is remembering to use the product, and because of the night ritual of face
cream and tooth brushing, etc. I found that was the best time for me to
remember. But when I heard of the Facial
Redness Cream – I was really interested in trying it out. This product is
also made of natural ingredients like niacin amide, alcohol, sunflower oil,
gorago oil, vitamin E, aloe, pine bark and green tea – which work together as
anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-oxidants while improving the
epidermal permeability barrier. The instructions say that after washing (and
drying) the face while avoiding the eyes, massage a small amount into the face twice
a day, and that it may take 2-4 weeks to see results.

I felt a slight warm
sensation for a few seconds, found there was no noticeable scent, and
discovered that a very small amount goes a long way. This product has a 3-year expiration, and
while I’m still trying out this product I suspect it has out performed the Prosacea.

Darkspot
Cream: (28g) is also made of
all natural ingredients including licorice, aloe, alcohol, Borago seed oil,
sunflower oil, vitamins B3 and E – which work together to lighten dark spots,
moisturize aging skin, provide anti-oxidents, remove dead skin and protect
against UV light. The product is, unlike its peers, Hydroquinone free; this
chemical is thought to be a potential carcinogen and has been linked with,
according to Wikipedia, a condition known as ochronosis (darkened, thickened
skin). Like the redness cream, this product has a 3-year shelf life and you
need to apply twice a day to affected areas for 4 weeks in order to see
noticeable results. I started noticing mild darkened skin areas just below my
cheekbones, on the back of my hands and forearms in my early 40’s. I’d been unaware as to why these were there
or what to do about it, but after being introduced to this cream I did an
online search and found that these darkened skin spots commonly appear in one’s
early 40’s and are usually due to sun exposure. While I’ve not yet reached the
one-month mark, I’ve already experienced visible results and am quite impressed
with the product.

* Click on the hyper-linked product
names above to learn more, and you can also find the company on Twitter and Facebook.

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, their radio program, blog, and more at: http://brummet.ca * Support the Brummets by telling your friends, clicking those social networking buttons, or visiting the Brummet's Store - and help raise funds for charity as well!

Friday, October 25, 2013

“…There are different state agencies that can, with
the doctors verification that the individual needs to be in a residence
specializing in dementia care. All they need to do is check with the
Alzheimer’s association nearest them to get some good advice on who to contact.
…be as cheerful as possible and don’t let their condition be a downer, because
they can tell – and if you are cheerful yourself, why, it helps them cope. …I
can’t stress enough how important it is to get the professional care, but they
need professional help.”

* Did you know that when you sleep, serotonin production is increased and this is what flushes the toxins from the brain? It is thought that people with sleep disorders end up with a greater chance of developing brain dementia related problems than the general population.

-- Positive News --

Recycling trophies is now possible! There is a wonderful outlet called: Total Awards & Promotions Inc - and through their mail-in or drop-off collection program you can donate old medals, trophies, plaques and awards. The company refurbishes them and puts new engravings on them - and then they are donated to non-profit organizations. This company also sells many eco-friendly trophy options including awards made of natural, biodegradable materials, reclaimed wood, and even recycled glass material. We actually have a recycled glass award given to us by the Recycling Council of BC for our efforts to educate people about the zero waste movement.

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, their radio program, blog, and more at: http://brummet.ca * Support the Brummets by telling your friends, clicking those social networking buttons, or visiting the Brummet's Store - and help raise funds for charity as well!